There's also an additional feature, in the Extras section of the main menu, which is weather. Even though you can get weather pretty much everywhere these days, we actually liked this feature, and it worked like a charm. You can't get more info (like, say, an hourly forecast), but it's still nice for a quick glance to see if you need to take an umbrella.
Connectivity is pretty good on the CS505--which is to say, it's pretty much the same as you'd find on an above average DVD player, plus a few extra network niceties. For video, the highlight is the HDMI output, which can upscale your video to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p resolution. Component, S-video, and composite ports guarantee the ability to connect to any older analog TVs as well. Audio can be carried using the HDMI connection, but there's also both optical and coaxial digital audio outputs, along with a 5.1 analog multichannel output and (of course) stereo analog audio out. On the front panel, there's also a USB port that can be used for quick flash drive hookups or other USB mass storage devices (though it won't work with iPods). For networking, there is an Ethernet port with wireless 802.11b/g connectivity. Unfortunately, it lacks the latest 802.11n speed that the Apple TV has, which allows for faster speeds--especially useful for high-def video. Also note that there's no WPA wireless security, so you'll have to downgrade your whole network to the less-secure WEP format to use the CS505. These days, there's really no excuse for that.
We definitely liked the way the CS505 handled aspect ratio control with nonanamorphic DVDs (as well as our digital video files). Some HDTVs, such as the HP LC3760N and the Philips 42PF9831D, do not have aspect-ratio control when fed high-definition sources, so it's nice to have the upscaling DVD player handle it. This is not an issue for most high-quality DVDs, which are anamorphic, but nonanamorphic wide-screen discs will look distorted unless the player correctly recognizes them.
We tested this using the original nonanamorphic Carlito's Way DVD, and the CS505 automatically put it in the correct aspect ratio, although windowboxed--in other words, with black bars on all four sides of the screen. To compensate, we were able to use the CS505's zoom function, which lets you zoom in or out in .05 increments. This level of flexibility is really nice, and we were easily able to fill the screen using the 1.25 zoom without cutting off the picture.
Performance
Streaming performance was decent using the wired Ethernet connection. We had no problem streaming DVDs and FLAC files to the wired Ziova using either a wired laptop or a wireless (802.11g) laptop. High-def material was another story, as it was barely passable using a wired laptop (still too many dropouts), and definitely not passable using the wireless laptop. We can understand the wireless dropouts, but wired connectivity should be solid. We tried the same high-def files using a USB flash drive, and we still didn't get solid playback, which leads us to believe that the CS505 might not be capable of playing back some high-definition video files smoothly regardless of network speeds.
Wireless performance was better. Of course, we couldn't stream high-def content, but we had a good experience streaming DVDs with our laptop wired and the CS505 connected wirelessly. When we had both the laptop and the CS505 wireless, we couldn't stream DVDs without some major hiccups, but at least FLAC and MP3 music files streamed without any stuttering.
Ultimately, our biggest annoyance was just of overall stability. For example, under SMB sharing, we'd get an error trying to play one MP3, but then it would work under uPNP sharing. One time we were playing a FLAC file, and it wouldn't let us adjust the volume. Another time we were streaming a DVD with both the CS505 and the laptop connected wirelessly, and it froze, requiring us to reboot. Another issue is that changing settings often requires a reboot of the CS505, which takes almost a minute. While any one of these isn't a deal breaker, altogether it hampered our enthusiasm for the CS505.
DVD performance
We started off testing the DVD player performance using Silicon Optix's HQV test suite. Things didn't get off to a good start with the initial resolution test, as it couldn't quite pass the full resolution of DVDs. It did better, although not great, with the next test with a rotating line, as it only started to show jaggies in the yellow section. It went on to fail the next test, with three pivoting bars that were all full of jaggies. Other detail tests confirm the soft image quality, but it did pass a 2:3 pulldown processing test, as it kicked into film mode after a few seconds..
We moved onto the Windows DVD Test Annex, and things didn't get much better. Besides failing a chroma bug test, another test where the "flag" on the DVD alternates between film and video mode caused the video output to go completely black, only to return a few seconds later--something we've never seen before. Yikes.
On the upside, we were able to confirm that the player does have 2:3 pulldown processing, as it correctly rendered the introduction to Star Trek: Insurrection, with the hulls of the boats and the railings of the bridge rendered as smooth, curved lines. We also looked at the movie Seabiscuit, and the CS505 struggled with the difficult intro sequence.
Overall, the DVD playback is probably passable if you're not picky about video quality, but enthusiasts would be better off with a dedicated DVD player. Luckily, Ziova offers the CS510, which is essentially exactly the same as the CS505, except without the DVD player.
What You'll Pay
- Set Price Alert
